A Big 'Verse, Full of Stories
by alikat522
Summary: A series of Firefly drabbles, little moments in the lives of the crew on Serenity. No set themes, ships, or time line. Spoilers up through the movie.
1. Taking Care

He always kind of thought about it, back of his mind mostly. Not when they were out in the black, of course, but when they were down on the surface somewhere, and littleun's are running around everywhere. Especially out in some of the outer rim planets, with the kids running around, covered in dust and not giving a damn. They reminded him of life back on the ranch, and that nice little feeling of home.

But even if he found the right woman, being some little one's baba was more then games. It would mean giving up Serenity, abandoning the crew, trying to settle into life under the Alliance. Rebels and outlaws have no business bringing children into their messes. His own ma's life may have been hectic, but it was legal, and all stayed in one place. A ship's no place for baby feet.

"The stars are very angry today. If they stopped being angry, they would lose all their fire and turn into comets. Then the skies would rain ice cream. And blood."

"Well, that's a charming image. Nothing like some sanguine dairy products from heaven."

"Can someone shut her up, how's a man supposed to eat with her babbling on 'bout bloody ice cream?"

Course, maybe he didn't need to have a baby. He was basically taking care of children anyway.


	2. Shiny Girls

Hell yeah he's protective. Little shiny thing like that, she needs protecting. Plenty of big bad men out there in the black looking to take a thing like her, make her do any gorram thing they want and not pay any attention to what they got. He's not saying he's not a bad man, and he's certainly not saying he's not proud of what he does. He likes his job and his life. But he knows that someone like her is special, and if you have 'em, you shouldn't let other people take 'em. Little doctor man just walks onto Serenity and starts putting the charms on her, of course he's gonna bristle. She's too special for the fancy inner-planet likes of him.

And it's not like she's innocent or nothing. He's heard the stories of how she got on this ship, and he knows she's a real woman, with needs and passions and all that whatnot. She doesn't pull any of that prissy, too good for a working man gos se, like some females he could mention. She's certainly not afraid to get dirty. He's spent plenty of time in his bunk, imagining undoing one of those jumpsuits of hers and taking her right there in the engine room, putting his big hands all over her tiny body. He'd hold her tight, keep her safe in his big arms, beat the stuffing out of anyone tried to mess with her.

Doesn't matter who, either. Thieves, pirates, Alliance, even Reavers if he had to. He'd fight any of 'em to keep her safe. He's not going soft for her. She's special, that's all. Living as a thief, he knows the importance of protecting special things.


	3. Chase Away the Hurt

He is not allowed to be in pain over this. He has a ship to lead. And besides, how could his grief compare to anyone else's on board? Gorram it, Zoe lost a husband, and she is still being strong, not pausing for a moment in her day to day life. He knows River was close to the Sheppard, not to mention all of the mind-messing she had done to her, and even she manages to keep together, acting like the pilot he now needs her to be. Kaylee takes her time to cry, but she compartmentalizes it, keeps it separate while she buries herself in the engine and keeps Serenity flying. Jayne goes on being Jayne. What right does Mal have to openly grieve when they all seem to be getting along just fine? He needs to be the captain.

Only at night does he let it go. His ship is changed, way too empty, and no matter whether or not they fill it with new people, it will always be missing a bit of laughter and a bit of philosophy.

He only cries occasionally, and tries to keep it quiet, but the man in his arms always wakes up. He must look mighty uncivilized, big ugly tears dripping down and his face getting all red, but his civilized doctor never seems to care. He holds him tight, curled up next to him; the bunk used to seem small, but now Mal thanks its size for keeping Simon close to him. At night, he is no longer a captain who lost part of his crew. Simon lets him be Malcolm, who lost two of his friends.

He knew he made the right decision, all that time ago. He needed a doctor, to help chase away some of the hurt.


	4. Skritch

"Serenity is its 'verse. We're like gods here…vengeful gods. Creeping, feline gods. Find the hideaways, fill in the holes, paw pads getting closer, skritchy claws. Skritch. Skritch."

Perhaps bringing River on the mouse-hunt was not the wisest idea. But ever since the fifth food packet had been found chewed open, everyone was on high alert. They could tolerate the spilled rice. They had scooped up what they could of the soup-mix. But when that mouse decided to mess with the coffee, it had signed its own death warrant.

"Little fluttery mind, it knows its gods are coming."

"Cap'n, I keep telling you, there's a better way of dealing with rodents."

"And I keep telling you, Kaylee, we are not getting a cat. The solution to our problems is not to bring _more_ animals on board."

"Yes, 'cause combing over every inch of Serenity whenever we got a vermin loose is a better plan."

"You know, Kaylee, the engine room has a lot of small nooks and crannies to check. Why don't you go look there? If you start now, you could be done by next week."

"They say cats are good judges of character. You're just worried a ship cat wouldn't like you."

"Yes, that is indeed my largest concern at the moment. That a hypothetical feline won't like me. Now get going."

Mal got down on his hands and knees to resume the rodent search. Wouldn't do for a captain to be unwilling to do the work he charged his crew with. Not that all of the crew seemed to be working that hard.

"River"

"Yes?"

"Do I even want to ask why you're curled up in the corner?"

"You don't really want to ask, but you feel like you have to."

"Good point. Why are you curled up in the corner?"

"It feels small. If I feel like it, I'll know better how to find it."

"…Sure, why not. Where's your brother at?"

"He's trying to keep the smaller creeping things out, the invisible ones, the ones on your skin, the ones on its fur. He's going to war with the tiny armies."

"…"

"…He's checking that the hospital wing is still sterile."

"Thank you."

"Jayne says he's going to shoot it."

"What?"

"The mouse. Jayne says he's going to shoot it."

"What? Why didn't you say something sooner? That idiot's not blowing holes in my ship."

Mal took off running, hoping he could find the mercenary before he decided to match wits with a rodent. He wasn't quite sure who would win that one.

He left before he had a chance to see River shift away from the wall and look down into the corner she had been blocking from view.

"It's okay, little skritchy one. The cat gods are gone. Just mice here."


End file.
